For years signs have been posted around Toronto advertising "Anarchist Piano Lessons." 

Perhaps you've passed one and snapped a pic for your friends or posted it to your Instagram feed, but have you ever stopped to wonder who the anarchist piano teacher is, or what an anarchist piano lesson even involves? 

I did and when I stepped into the anarchist piano lair to investigate, I left with a lesson in both music and politics.

Adam Golding, the often barefoot Anarchist Piano Teacher, has intersecting interests. 

On one hand, he's a teacher, musician and an avid performer at Toronto open mics. On the other, he's a member of Toronto's Municipal Socialist Alliance and when the time calls for it, a political candidate. 

A long time resident of Kensington market, Golding ran in the fall election for Ward 11 University-Rosedale. When the election concluded, he held 2% of the vote (481 votes out of 24,351), outperforming seven of the 14 candidates in the ward.

He describes the experience as, "very educational and much cheaper than getting an undergraduate or master's degree in political science," though he does personally hold both a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto. 

When it comes to teaching, his career goes back to when he began teaching music theory lessons as a teenager. Later, during his tenure at UofT, he tutored undergrads in formal logic, essay writing, and philosophy. 

In 2018, he posted his first Craigslist ad for anarchist piano lessons, and a friend told him it was the truly perfect way to brand his teachings. 

Soon, he started hanging the posters. 

If you follow the web link on the poster it will connect you to his Facebook page. For bookings, Golding presently manages his lessons through his Instagram– both musical and political. 

Piano lessons are hosted in Golding's Kensington home, where he also hosts improvised  concerts every Thursday. He generally has an open door policy and his students are always invited. 

When I asked what makes his piano lessons anarchist, he explained that it's all about questioning power and rules. 

"There's no such thing as zero rules because there's always rules that describe what you're doing, but I teach my students to follow a new rule every day as a way to remind them that they're free to change the rules at any point," he explains. 

Citing American intellectual Noam Chomsky, Golding says that power differences are unjustified by default. "You can approach education with that mindset," he says. 

"You can assume as little of a power difference between student and teacher as possible in terms of choosing the direction of what they learn." 

Golding campaigning at a local music festival. Adam Golding/Substack

Golding explained that another intention of calling the lessons anarchist is so that the occasional analogy might get made to political theory.

So in the end, all of his passions come together. 

To conclude our session in the lair (as he calls it), Golding performed an improvised piano piece for me. 

He live streams all of his performances and publishes them to YouTube in an effort to rid himself of stage fright, so your first intro to Anarchist Piano Lessons can happen right now, in the comfort of your room, if you're ready.